Prevalence and clinical and laboratory characteristics of bee venom allergy in 6-18 year old urban school children living in Trabzon

Aim: To investigate the frequency and clinical and laboratory characteristics of bee venom allergy in 6-18 year-old urban school children living in Trabzon city center. Methods: A total of 17000 questionnaires were dispensed to a population of randomly selected 6-18 age urban school children. Parents were asked to complete questions about history of insect stings and presence of atopic diseases. A telephone survey was undertaken to whom reported an hymenoptera sting and accepted to participate in the study and invited to the outpatient clinic for laboratory investigations. Results: The response rate to the questionnaire was 46,0% (7904/17000). The estimated prevalence of reported Hymenoptera sting was 54,0% (4312/7904). A detailed questionnaire was applied to 545 children who accepted to participate in the study. Of the 91,1% reported a normal local reaction, 6,4% a large local reaction, 1,1% systemic reaction, 0,7% an urticarial reaction, 0,5% an urticaria and angioedema. Of the 149 children who accepted to participate in the laboratory investigations. Skin prick tests were found positive in 4,0%. A serum specific IgE to any type of Hymenoptera (i.e., Apis mellifera and/or Vespula) was found positive in 21,0% in a randomly selected 95 among 149 children. Mean basal tryptase level in children with a suspected IgE mediated reaction to Hymenoptera venom was significantly higher than mean basal tryptase level of children with normal local reaction (5,13±3,39 vs 3,32±1,48, p=0,017). Discussion: Reactions againts Hymenoptera stings seem to be a common and an important health problem in our region. Key Words: Bee venom allergy, anaphylaxis, child, spesific IgE, tryptase